Freezing Flames
by WilderCapall
Summary: Zagi is absolute: cold and cruel, violent and merciless. But sometimes, when no one is looking, Karim sees the gentle warmth beneath the ice. Set between Death Game and volume 2 of the manga. ZagixKarim


Well, I'm just going to say right now, I very much prefer ZagixKarim to ThorxKarim. Because Thor is an idiot who falls in love with someone after two hours and thinks that she'll instantly forget about someone she has loved for about four years. And Zagi, despite his more jerk-assed characteristics, really cared about her. Plus, Thor ditched Tiz, which was just really, really mean.

**Summary: **Zagi is absolute: cold and cruel, violent and merciless. But sometimes, when no one is looking, Karim sees the gentle warmth beneath the ice. Set between Death Game and volume 2. ZagixKarim lemon

**Warning:** Possibly OOCness, but I'll try to keep it down as much as possible

**Disclaimer:** AlukaKaiserin does not own Jyu-Oh-Sei, but shall cosplay Zagi to Anime Boston 2012.

**Freezing Flames**

Sometimes, Zagi frightens her. He's violent and cold and his eyes are hard, empty amethyst. In those moments, Karim can barely meet his stony gaze.

Sometimes, Zagi's very presence makes life worth living. He holds her, breathing softly into her hair. She leans against him, feeling the lean muscle of his chest and trying not to blush. Karim loves him, but she's not sure what that means.

She doesn't want children. It makes her a freak on Chimaera, but having children means leaving Zagi, and she can't do that. But if Zagi wants her, she knows she'll carry his.

"Karim." She whirls around, startled. Zagi smirks. "Sorry. Did I scare you?"

She almost growls at him. It's the yado in her, annoyed and defensive at being snuck up on.

"No," she settles on, glaring a little. But she knows she won't fool him.

"Karim…" Zagi says, softer this time. He strokes her cheek, scarred hand moving back to tangle in her hair. He takes a step forward, and Karim leans into his embrace, resting her head on his shoulder. Zagi's other arm circles her waist as her eyes drift shut, so comfortable with him despite how deadly she knows he can be.

Blanc Ro, they call him. An apt description; Zagi is merciless, powerful and cruel. He stands above his Ring in absolute dominance. No one could even imagine defying him, the vicious White Wolf who had taken the Ring in the blink of an eye.

But right now, alone with Karim, he is just Zagi: eighteen, tired, and surprisingly frail beneath the mask of Blanc Ro. Still dangerous. Still absolute. But he is tired. Karim can feel the bones of his shoulder, and his ribs press against her body. She looks up at his face, from the dark circles beneath his violet eyes to the darker depths within them. His cheeks are hollow; he hasn't been eating enough lately. He doesn't fear the Noire Ring, but Blanc has taken significant losses in their conflicts this Noon. Zagi is waiting—for Night, for opportunity, for freedom.

As the girl looks at him, Zagi tilts his head to capture her lips.

Karim is startled, but pleasantly so. She drapes her arms around Zagi's neck and kisses back, hungry for him and just a little mad with it.

Zagi is rough, primal even. He yanks her forward, his sharp hipbones digging into her stomach. Karim barely feels the discomfort, because now he's holding her, carrying her until she feels soft sheets beneath her and Zagi's slight weight above. He bites her neck, his breath tickling her hair.

"Zagi…" she whispers. "We can't…" It hurts to say it; she's on fire for him.

"And why not?" he murmurs, his breath hot on her neck. Karim shivers and tries to remember why. Zagi doesn't believe in the month of joining, and Karim doesn't want to anymore, not with Zagi here, not with her body screaming for him.

She nips his collarbone and pulls him downward, feeling the hard muscle of his chest and stomach. Zagi laughs softly and slides one hand under her shirt, kissing her as she sighs and her nails dig into his back.

The girl gasps at his touch, arching her back and feeling Zagi's body against hers, setting her ablaze with his hands and his mouth over hers.

Zagi is everything, he is everywhere; his hands exploring her body, his tongue on her neck, her collarbone, her chest. Karim moans as he nuzzles her chest and runs his hand down her back.

He pushes into her, and the pain is sharp but overshadowed entirely by the euphoria. Karim almost screams, because she and Zagi are for a moment one and the same, equals, two halves of one body joined together. She bites down on his collarbone to avoid crying out, and he pushes again, stronger, faster. Karim can't suppress the yelp that escapes her throat. He's rough with her, strong and wild—everything he always is, and more. Zagi is not gentle. When Karim finally surrenders, almost crying in ecstasy, he stays inside her, wringing the last bits of pleasure out of her—touching, kissing until she's begging for mercy.

But even then, it's over too soon for her; she still wants him, she still needs him. Exhausted and satisfied though she is, it isn't enough. Zagi lies behind her on his side, arm draped over her waist, the ever-present smirk on his face. Karim wants nothing more than him, his touch, his body. This is more than lust, more than love. Zagi is life itself.

"Karim…" he says softly, stroking her hair. "Thank you." He pushes himself upright and leans against the headboard of the bed. Karim traces some of his scars with the tips of her slender fingers, sadness in her eyes. The moment is over. Zagi is cold and silent once again, as if he barely remembers that Karim is there.

It's always been this way with Zagi; moment of warmth, kindness, passion obscured by days, weeks, even months of frozen isolation.

But no matter what, Karim loves him. No matter what, she'll follow him forever. Zagi is her life and her reason to go on. So she stays, and waits for the brief times when Zagi is warmer than anyone, when he takes off the mask, intoxicates her and drags her deeper into his madness.

If Zagi is a drug, he's a drug that Karim is willing to stay on, through highs and crashes, euphoria and withdrawal. If that makes her pathetic, then she's pathetic. She doesn't care what anyone else thinks about Zagi and her.

She just needs him.

**End**

Huh. That was…interesting. Review if you read, please XD


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